Dangerous Read Free

night long. There was nothing to fear, but she’d get her gun just the same.
    Just as she breathed easy, the sound of a gun hammer being drawn back sent terror freezing her lungs as panic pumped her blood.
    “You planning on arresting me while I sleep?” a deep voice drawled.
    Beau Samuel, bank robber and handsome hunk, breathed in her ear, sending a trickle of awareness through her. Sometimes the best offense was to act dumb.
    She whirled around and came face-to-face with the man from the bank. “What are you doing?”
    “I’m trying to find out why you’re following me. You think you can tie me up and haul me back to town?”
    “I didn’t know you were out here,” she lied. She hadn’t heard him sneak up on her, and now she was in a heap of trouble.
    “Liar,” he said his lips turned up in a smile that any other time she might have found attractive.
    “Where’s your good friend the sheriff?”
    “We spread out. He should be along any minute now.”
    “Liar.”
    “Do you like that word?” She shrugged. “Don’t be surprised when the sheriff comes riding in here.”
    “I just call it like I see it. You’re lying. You just don’t give up, do you?”
    “Why should I?” Annabelle said, staring at him trying to muster courage.
    “What’s your name Miss Smart Mouth?”
    “Annabelle McKenzie, bounty hunter.”
    He threw back his head and roared with laughter.
    “I’m taking you in,” she said, incensed that he would laugh at her.
    “I outweigh you, I have a gun pointed on you, and I’m stronger than you. Sugar, this is a battle you’re not going to win.”
    “And I’m smarter than you.”
    He shook his head. “You keep thinking that.”
    Glancing down at his gun, she looked up at him. “You really think a big strong man like you needs that gun pointed at me?”
    “Yeah, I do,” he said. “You’re dangerous.”
    “Are you headed to the Red River?” she asked, wanting to know where he was headed in case she lost him. She had no intentions of letting him get away a second time.
    “No.”
    “Then why are you on this road?”
    “Lady, it’s none of your business why I’m on this road.” He shook his head. “Wait a minute. I’m asking the questions, not you.”
    She smiled at him. When she got away, at least she’d know which direction to follow him.
    “I’ll just have to go through your saddlebags to see what I can learn about you.”
    Thank God, she’d strapped the money in a secret pouch inside her skirt. He couldn’t find it. If he did, he’d steal it, and then Meg and Ruby would be furious she’d lost some of their bounty money. And she couldn’t blame them. They’d worked hard to get the farm out of debt.
    “Let me tell you what you’re going to find,” she said. “Empty bags.”
    “Liar.” He frowned at her.
    She shrugged. “Believe what you want. I’d gone into town to buy some supplies. There’s nothing in those saddlebags, except for some feminine things I need. Do you understand?”
    Come on, she thought, he didn’t appear to be that dense.
    His eyes widened. “Oh.”
    “Yes, I thought you wouldn’t want to embarrass yourself by going through those rags.”
    His brow drew together. “Lady, for some reason I think you couldn’t tell the truth if it slapped you upside the head.”
    In two long strides, he reached her horse and drew open the first saddlebag. It contained the wanted posters. Dang! Dang! Dang!
    Why had she thought this would be so easy?
    He pulled them out and his was on top. He held it up. “You know, I don’t think the artist caught my best side? Do you?”
    She frowned. “He left off your horns.”
    A smile spread across his face as he laughed and shook his head. “Woman, you have a smart mouth, and it’s going to get you killed,” he said. “I was hoping you’d learned a lesson this afternoon and wouldn’t follow me.”
    “There’s five hundred dollars riding on your head. I’d follow you a long ways trying to earn that